


peter's family

by avengersincamphalfbloodstardis



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), F/M, Found Family, Harley Keener as Iron Lad, Irondad, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Siblings, Tony Stark Acting as Harley Keener's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, ironkids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-02 18:29:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21166166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avengersincamphalfbloodstardis/pseuds/avengersincamphalfbloodstardis
Summary: Peter's family wasn't built all at once; it took time.





	peter's family

When Peter was five years old, he got an aunt and an uncle. He’d had them before of course, but hadn’t seen them much. His parents took him to see his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. And then, they were all he had.

When Peter was fourteen years old, he got spider powers. He lost Uncle Ben. 

When Peter was fifteen years old, he got a father.

It was an accident; in fact, it was because his new father sought _ him _out, asked him to fight by his side. Peter had been the one to let the word “Dad” slip from his lips, but Tony had been the one to confirm it.

When Peter was sixteen years old, he got a brother.

That was a bit more... grating. He’d never had a brother before, never had _ any _ siblings before, and for this obnoxious little kid to be declared family all of a sudden... well. It wasn’t ideal. 

When Peter told May how annoying Harley was, she couldn’t stop laughing. “That’s what little brothers _ are _, Pete.”

That was the thing about family; you didn’t choose them. And before long, life without Harley was unrecognizable.

When Peter was seventeen years old, he turned to dust.

For all the ways he imagined losing his newfound family, he’d never imagined they might lose _ him _.

And for five years, they did.

Everywhere they went, they were told to move on. Before the snap, people had to move on a lot. People died or disappeared all the time. But never... never like this.

When Peter was seventeen years old, and had been for five years, he woke up.

There wasn’t any time to understand, no time to see if Harley had woken up, or if he’d stayed in one piece, if Aunt May was okay, if Tony had missed him— 

And then those questions paused, because Tony hugged him.

That was the last eye in the storm.

No time to think, no time to ask, no time to so much as breathe without the motivation to land a next hit behind it.

Even when dust was blowing away it wasn’t over.

In seconds, Carol (that’s how she introduced herself to Peter) tugged the gauntlet from Tony’s hand and tossed it aside before lifting him from the ground and shooting off.

Everyone that could fly took off after her, Pepper the closest on her tail, even though Carol was surely miles ahead of her, if not to Wakanda by now.

While many of the others stood in shock or took stock of who was alive or injured around them, Peter looked to where the gauntlet had landed by his feet. He knelt and lifted it to his chest, the same way Carol had held Tony, hugging it to him. He wasn’t sure what else he could do, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let what had pushed Tony to the brink out of his sight.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone approach him.

“Hey Queens,” a voice said gently, a hand coming to his shoulder He tightened his hold on the gauntlet, sure he was about to be told to give it up. But Cap surprised him.

“Let’s get to him,” he said. “He’ll want to see you when he wakes up.”

It sounded like an unfulfilled promise, but Peter nodded anyway and let Cap steer him to a ship.

He sat numb, Cap’s hand never leaving his shoulder. Around them, people held each other, those who had been dusted and those who hadn’t. Falcon and Winter Soldier embraced for a moment longer than expected, before breaking apart and looking away awkwardly, all while Cap looked on with narrowed eyes.

Sitting in the Wakandan hospital wasn’t much different. He was still numb, still holding the gauntlet. A nurse came to him at one point, asked to clean his wounds. He couldn’t fully hear her or find it in himself to answer. Cap murmured that they were waiting and they would get that taken care of after. 

After that, they were left alone for a long time.

“Peter?” Cap’s voice came, breaking through the swimming haze. “He’s okay.”

Peter looked up to see a doctor smiling with reserved encouragement. “He’s stable,” she said, voice tired but pleased. “We had to amputate unfortunately, but he’s stable and healing.”

The entire weight that had been slowly crushing Peter suddenly crashed to the ground and he slumped. Cap’s arm slipped from his shoulder to holding him, keeping him up.

Tony was alive. He had lost something, but he had won more; the war, the people he’d lost back, his _ life _.

“Captain,” a voice came from the left. They all looked to see a uniformed Wakandan. “We have an incoming flyer. Our sensors tell us it’s Iron Lad. Would you like to be the one to greet him?”

Peter’s brow furrowed and he looked to Cap, who looked right back at him.

“Actually, um,” he said, clearing his throat. “I think Peter should.”

Confusion was all Peter could comprehend, but Cap seemed to know what was going on.

“I’ve got the gauntlet,” Cap said softly. “I swear I won’t let anyone else take it.”

It took nearly more strength than Peter had left, but he let Cap gently ease the gauntlet from his arms and followed the messenger.

The sun in Wakanda seemed brighter somehow and it made Peter squint, blinking up at the sky.

For a long moment, it was quiet, just the sun shining down on him. Then, there was a noise in the distance and a small dot appeared in the sky. It slowly became larger, limbs defining.

It was armor, thinner and more agile than Tony’s, but the same colors. The touchdown was perfect, on one knee with the fist catching his landing. Then, the armor stood and began to fold back.

A boy stepped forward, thin and tall, floppy and light brown hair, sharp blue eyes.

Those eyes widened as they saw Peter, his steps stopping short.

They stared at each other for a moment.

“Peter?” they boy’s voice cracked, something crumpling in his eyes, almost afraid to hope.

“_Harley _?” Peter asked in disbelief.

His knees buckled as he fell into a run, meeting Harley halfway as they crashed into each other’s arms, clutching other with grips that had been weak moments before. Now, Odin help the one who tried to break them apart.

“How-” Peter stuttered, pulling back to search Harley for every change. Thinner cheeks, darker eyes, taller. “You’re so- what-”

Harley laughed wetly, looking down at Peter (and wasn’t _ that _ weird). “Five years, Pete. A lot happened in five years.” 

When Peter crumbled this time, it was just his heart that turned to dust.

He hugged Harley again, wet cheeks pressed to Harley’s shoulder. This hug was brief before they moved together, in sync the way only siblings can be, hurrying back inside the hospital.

“How is he?” Harley asked as they went, his voice so much deeper than Peter was used to. 

“He’s gonna be okay,” Peter informed him, feet working overtime to keep up with Harley’s longer strides. “But he, um... they had to amputate his arm.”

Impressively, Harley didn’t break his stride when the mixture of relief and grief infused his features. “Christ. I should have been there, I-” He shook his head. “Fuck.”

“It’s not your fault, Harley,” Peter said, and tried to believe the words applied to him as well. “Doctor... Doctor Strange said there was only one way.”

Harley cursed again, speeding up. “Sure, but punching aliens probably felt a lot better than babysitting. And I would have done that instead, if Pepper hadn’t suited up and told me to stay.”

The next corner they rounded revealed Cap, who stood when they came into view. T’Challa stood in front of him, looking somber.

“Harley,” Cap said, smile somehow still serious, the gauntlet cradled in his arms. 

“Hi Steve,” Harley said, a little stiffly.

“Peter,” Cap—_ Steve _ said, turning to look at him. “T’Challa came to ask if he could take the gauntlet to his sister’s lab. To lock it away until we put the stones back. I said we should ask you.” 

Feeling a little overwhelmed that a king and a super soldier were deferring to his decision, for a responsibility that arguably wasn’t his, Peter took a deep breath. “It’ll be safe, right?”

“Completely,” T’Challa assured him. “No one else will touch it.”

At Peter’s nod, Steve handed the gauntlet over to T’Challa, who, with a nod, disappeared with it. Peter found himself struggling not to snatch it back and find some way to destroy it.

Steve looked back to them. “He’s asleep, but you can see him. Pepper said it’s okay.”

While Peter’s breath seemed to disappear, Harley took a sharp breath beside him.

“Ready?” Harley asked, eyebrow quirking, looking so much like Tony.

Peter nodded and walked in the room beside his brother.

Tony was pale, paler than Peter had seen anyone since Uncle Ben as he died in his arms.

He was also scarred, pink and raw, covered with a shiny ointment, stretching from his cheek all the way down his neck to bandages wrapped where his arm had been.

Pepper, bent over at his bedside, looked up. Her face, so tired and aged, crumpled into a weary smile.

“_Boys_,” she said, rising from her seat and rushing to them with her arms outstretched. 

They collapsed into them, letting her motherly embrace envelop them both. Each body shook against the others, somehow managing to hold each other up.

Pepper wiped her eyes as they pulled back, taking a shaky breath. “Are you okay, Harley? How’s Morgan?”

Harley shook his head. “I’m fine. Morgan’s okay, Happy’s with her now. How’s Dad?”

She nodded, lip wobbling. “He’s stable, healing. He’s so lucky.” She turned her gaze to Peter next, bringing a hand up to cup his cheek. “Oh Peter, you look awful. Didn’t you get checked over?”

Peter shook his head, leaning into her warm palm. “I didn’t let them.”

Her face softened even more, eyes sad. “Oh honey.”

A knock came at the door and they all turned to look. 

Steve peeked in, looking apologetic. 

“Sorry to interrupt.” He held up a phone. “Peter, your aunt called. Shuri patched her in.”

Peter’s knees locked as he stumbled forward, hand reaching desperately for the phone. Her voice already came through the speaker, too impatient to hear him answer first. “Peter? Peter!”

Tears spilled down his cheeks as everything caught up to him at the sound of her voice; every hit he’d taken, every drop of blood he lost, every moment waiting in agony to hear if Tony had survived. His hand trembled as he pressed the phone to his cheek, hand in a claw around it.

“_May_.”

***

Victory didn’t cover every emotion Peter felt after the battle but their celebration was called a victory party nonetheless.

Tony and Pepper’s lake house was gorgeous. It made Peter ache for the time he’d lost and hope for a better future spent here.

It was nice to have everyone gathered here like this. Everyone mingled, Avengers, Guardians, other allegiances, people, aliens. Tony and Shuri spoke with increasing volume as talk of the schematics of his work-in-progress arm grew more exciting. Aunt May teased Happy while he smiled, pleased. Steve and Natasha watched in a mixture of horror and interest as Clint and Peter Quill faced off in a marshmallow eating contest. Sam and Bucky had disappeared for a walk around the lake awhile ago.

It was the kind of celebration that could have so easily been mournful if things had been only slightly different.

Peter could feel himself drifting; back to the soul stone maybe, the power that had separated his soul and body, and the same power that had brought him back.

“Peter?” A voice said behind him.

He turned to see Tony, Pepper, and Harley smiling at him. In Pepper’s arms was a little girl, looking at him quizzically. 

“This is our daughter,” Pepper said softly. “Morgan.”

Tony’s proud smile outshone everything but this little group, their family. “That’s your big brother, Morgoona.”

Peter felt his chest swell as he looked back at his family, makeshift and beautiful. His focus came to their daughter, looking so much like the both of them, and so, _ so _ amazing. 

Morgan looked back at him, and smiled.

When Peter was seventeen years old, give or take five years, he got a sister.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! If you did, please leave comments or kudos, as they inspire me to write more:) Come say hi to me on [tumblr](https://avengersincamphalfbloodstardis.tumblr.com/)! Especially if you're coming to share ironkids content


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